Sliver piecing device



Sept. 2, 1952 K`. G. sTREw SLIVER PIECING DEVICE Filed OOb. 6, 1950 1\Nz D# Sept- 2, 1952 K. G. STREW 2,608,125

A sL1vER'-15IECING DEVICE Filed Oct. 6, 1950 2 SIlEETS-Sl-IEET Ede/22321E l jnkef/L Jaw I ,Vter/veg Patented Sept.- 2, 1.952

' SLIVER PIECING DEVICE Kenneth Gerald Strew, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Can-vada, assignor to Dominion Textile Company Limited, Montreal, Quebec,Canada, a corporaYv v tion of Canada Application October 6, 1950, SerialNo. 188,665

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to textile apparatus and more particularlyto textile machines of thel type wherein a plurality of sliver ends arefed simultaneously into the machine for additional treatment, as Yforexample, lap winders or drawing frames.

The usual practice in supplying sliver to these machines is to have atleast one full reserve container of sliver positioned adjacent to eachof the containers Yfrom which the sliver is being fed to the machine.With this arrangement, as soon as one container is emptiedand themachine is stopped, a sliver end from the reserve supply can be piecedon and the machine restarted with as little delay as possible. y

Attempts have been vmade to accomplish this ,piecing up operationmechanically without the necessity of stopping the machine, but to date,most of the apparatus designed for this purpose is of a complicatedstructure and consequently requires considerable Vmodification of themachines to which they are installed. e

The present invention recognizes these disadvantages and aims to providea sliver piecing apparatus of simple design, having no moving parts, andwhich can be attached to the existing textile machines with a minimum ofmodiiication.

Accordingly, the present invention is a sliver piecing apparatus which,when embodied in combination' with the existing sliver guidingmeans of a'textile machine, is adapted to support the sliver ends being fed intothe machine andad? er end. With this arrangement, the breakage or"exhaustion Aof anyvfof' thejsliver feeding jends,4 causes the free endto fall from the extended sup'- plementary sliver guiderand to be guidedinto"V means so that the reservesliver vendy is disengaged from theretainingmeans and drawn into the machine without hstoppingthe lforwardtravelofthe feeding sliverend;

In one 'preferredv construction, lthe 'suppleav j so mentary sliverguide is mounted on an elongatedV adjustable bracket extending from then riachiney adjacent to the existing sliver guiding means so, that thedistance between the supplementary sliver guide and the existing sliverguiding means can be varied so as to regulate the lengthv of the feedingsliver end coming into overlapping... contact with the reserve` sliverend. T he iteserve sliver retaining means is positioned rela-. tive tothe existing sliver guiding means sothat the falling free end of thebroken or exhausted sliver will be guided directly into contact vwiththe reserve end at approximately the lowest point of its downwardmovement. This ensures' that the overlapping contact between the ex-lhausted feeding sliver end andthe reserve sliver end is made when thetwo ends are positioned at an acute angleV relative to the normal travelof the sliver. This positioning together with4 Vthe forward motion ofthe feeding end-gives the wiping contact 'necessary to piece togetherthe feeding and reserve ends of sliver. It has been, found on experimentthat once the pieced ends have travelled through the entry rolls andhave y undergone the slight drawing.. action usually. performed by thefeeding mechanism of a lap.. Winder, or a drawing frame, that theoverlapped splice is blended, and the overall diameter'f' the sliver atthat point is not considerably'greater than the unspliced portion of thesliver.

Detailed description Having thus generally described the natureof theinvention particular reference willv be made, to the accompanyingdrawings illustrating a preferred embodiment, and in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustrationv of a portion of the .sliver endfeeding mechanism of a lap. Winder embodying a sliver piecing appa-.ratus constructed in accordance with the in ven-"QY tion. l

Figure 2 is an enlarged diagrammaticview of a portion of the apparatusshown in Figure Y1 toV illustrate the construction in more detail.

Figure 3 is a side elevation, partiallyin sec-v4 tion, of the apparatusshown in Figure 2 Vifo-illus#` f trate more 'clearly the arrangementofthe feed'L ing Ysliver ends, the" reserve sliver ends, aifidf'tlfie`relative position of the sliverv 'piecing apparatus'l as' it may` beattached tc thev existing sliver fend guides and feeding entry. rolls ofa lap. winden-f Figure 4 isia side elevation, partiallyin sec- 7.

tion, corresponding to Figure 3 showing the ap paratus' in operationafter" the v1breakage ,fo'i'VV l 'Figure '5 is an enlar ed detail viewinpesle;

tive elevation of a reserve sliver support member constructed inaccordance with the invention.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view in perspective elevation of apreferred construction of a supplementary sliver guide.

The lap winders in general use are constructed so as to Jsimultaneouslyvhandle a plurality of ends of sliver which are fed from supply cansdisposed at each side of the machine. The sliver ends are fed from thesupply cans on to a tapered table in staggered sequence so that' thesliver ends from the furthest away or outside cans are ied down thecentre of the table, the sliver ends from' the next cans are fed intothe machine at each side of the centre slivers and so on.

A portion of a machine of this nature is shown in Figure 1, wherein thetable is desigual-.cdas IDI, the supply sliver cans I2 and thereservesliver supply cans I4. The apparatus that controls the feeding ofthe sliver ends onto the table lll at each :position consists of a pair'of pivotal-ly mounted'freelyrotating shell rolls f'which cooperate witha Yfeeding roll I8` extending `the length/of the machine. rFhe ysliverends are guidedi-ntothe nip-'of the rolls f6, Hibymearxs` of a sliverguide plate 20 which includes tapering slots'Y 22 Ythrouglfl vrwhich thesliver passes. As shown in detail in Figure 2, there is one'sucharrangement for each set or -sliver cans, usually?. four (two feedingVl2 and two reserve Hi), at each side of] lthe machine. The shell rolls;I6 are pivotally mounted` as indicatedA at 2l to the guide plate 20. Theguide-plate 2 0 is supported by engagementwith a supportingrod 24 whichextends thev length of the machine. y

lThis apparatus* is common to most lap winders and/in general practicethe sliver ends are fed directly from the two Voutsidesliver supply cansl2A directly through the guide `plate v2t] and as these are' inalignmentV with the respective rolls Mig"` I .B'the sliver isthusmaintained in alignment with the 'sliver studs 23l of the lap winder.When the sliveriend `feeding from the outside supply cans 12" isexhausted or broken the machine is automaticallystopped. The sliver endfrom one. of the innerreserve cans I4 isV then spliced by hand'ltothe.feeding end and the machine is, restarted tocontinue with the operation.

"The present invention is designed toeliminate this stoppage andprovides an automatic piecing up apparatus for 'thispurpose thatincludes an adjustable support bar 39 which is secured to the guide'plate 2B: so as-to supporta supplementary sliver` guide plate`32, infront ofV and in'spaced apart relationshipwith the guide plate 20. Thesupplementary sliver guide 32 includesapair-of spaced apart slots 34which terminate in circular guide openings/ 36 through which the supplysliver ends` pass and -arethus maintained' in' alignment with the guideslots 22 inthe guide plate 20.

A reserve sliver end supporting bracket 4031s adjustably-mounted on therear faceof the Kguide plate ZtTby'means of suitable screws. The sup--porting jbracket 40 includesa pair of spaced; apart sliverretainingipointsd'r which are positioned` so as? tozeach'align with-one*of the slots122 yin thegguide `plate 2B. whenthe bracket dfs inv Dbtn-With. particular :reference to) Figure 5..'

ontoon'e oftheY sliver retaining points Vl2.s"o.that.

T*Af are suspendedibeneatliand. Y trans- 4 versely to the travel of thefeeding sliver ends. The sliver ends B fed into the machine from thesupply cans l2 are engaged in the guiding openings 36 of thesupplementary guide plate 32. When any of the sliver ends "B from thesupply cans l2 is depleted, or breaks before the can is empty,Y thefreesliver end B falls; between the guide slots 2'2 ofthe guide plate 2Uagainst the sliver end A suspended from the sliver engaging points 42.Due to the forward travel of the sliver. the angle of engagement, andthe particular characteristics oi cotton liber, the wiping or drawing ofthe-tree sliver end B" against the Vsliver end Al'supported by the point42 is sufvficienttojeausethetwo ends to unite and so the sliver endA*from the full reserve can I4 is drawn#from the, retaining point 42,between the shellrolls I6 and feeding roll I8, and into the lap "windenThe amount of the overlap between the sliver ends fAf andffBWiseon-trolledf bythedistance thesupplm-entary slver'guide 32 ispositioned away from-f' the guide platez 2U; As the Supporting Y bar' 39ier the-sliver fg-uide 32 i'sfadjustableg'this distance can be varied tosecure the giver-fleur'delthe new reserve sliver ends to the-sliver- 42so that the machine may be kept in continuous operation. y

'While the presentapparatusV been described and illustrated as beingembodied ina lapwinder* it will be understoodthat this is'illustrat-iveonly, and, that apparatus of this nature `could be stalled in othertextile machines `ol" asimilar type.

I'claim:"`- r' n l. In a textile machineA of thetypa havingljmultiplesliver feeding means ,and guiding means 'for directingtneuavei ofeach-feeding silver endiiuto thefm'achinelthe combination with each .CiflSaid Sliver guiding; meansof a sliver. piccina apparatus Comprising.asupplementaryslver. guide for each.

of-saidv feeding .sliver j ends disposed in alignment? with andA in.spaced apart, relationshipfirci;said i yfirst named sliver guidingmeans, and reserv] sliver end retainingmeans. adapted to loosely retainv a f reereserve sliver` end.nxedvpitioh'.hneah,. the normal travel'ofjsaid feeding? sliver and at' a i predetermined distance;Jrorrrsail.supp1eme''nt'arvA sliver guide. whereby uponbreak'ageorexhaustion," osaidieedingsliver end;` saidreleased s'liverjed. is;adaptedtogravitatefrcm saidsuppiementry sliver` guide,)and come l into'.loverlapiiius'- :splicing ,contactvrith said reserve sliver end 'seastrims-- "engagesaid eserve sliver end iifomsaid re" 'L 5 mgm-'a-Ildidraw if? im@ ma?;

sliver reta 2.. lnia'textile vmachine,Las'claimedv in;cla-lim1 1,v

,werein the' 'sliver '.piec'ing apparatus includes elongated supportingmember .connected to leach of .sfaid'rst namedsliverguiding.meanshgaidsup;A

P1emeltefilsisrffguide"beisa- 'mevnied @nl the.; outer end ofsaidfelongatgd suQpQrtinglmQmbeL;

7-said elor 1gated supprtngmemuelr,'being adjust.

able whereby the distance between said supplementary sliver guide andsaid first named sliver guiding means may be varied.

3. In a textile machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reservesliver retaining means comprises a supporting bracket connected to eachof said rst named sliver guiding means, each of said supporting bracketshaving at least one sliver piercing point extending obliquely therefromadapted to receive and retain a reserve sliver end.

4. In combination with a textile machine of the type including means forsimultaneously moving a plurality of sliver ends through a set ofslivervfeeding rolls and guide plates for directing the travel ofV eachof said moving sliver ends, a sliver piecing apparatus comprising, asupplementary sliver guide member disposed in front of and in spacedapart relationship with each of said first named sliver guide plates, areserve sliver retaining member disposed adjacent to each of said firstnamed sliver guide plates and beneath the normal travel of said feedingsliver ends, each of said reserve sliver retaining members being adaptedto loosely retain a reserve sliver end in alignment with and in spacedapart relationship from said supplementary sliver guide members, wherebyupon breakage or exhaustion of any of said feeding sliver ends said freesliver end is caused to gravitate from said supplementary guiding memberand is directed into overlapping splicing contact with said reservesliver end so as to disengage said reverse end from said retainingmember and draw it into said machine.

5. A combination as claimed in claim 4, wherein said supplementarysliver guide members are each mounted on the outer end of an elongatedadjustable supporting bracket with the other inner end of said bracketconnected to one of said first named sliver guide plates, whereby thedisbracket.

7. A sliver piecing apparatus adapted to be embodied in a textilemachine having sliver feeding means and at least one associated guidemember to direct the travel of sliver moved by said means, saidsliverpiecing apparatus comprising of an elongated adjustable suportmember adapted for attachment to said sliver guide member s0 as toextend outwardly therefrom, a supplementary sliver guide plate having atleast one sliver guiding recess mounted on said supporting member, and areserve sliver supporting bracket in'- cluding at least one sliverpiercing point adapted for attachment to said rst named sliver guidemember beneath said supplementary'sliver guide plate. y

8. A method of piecin'g up sliver characterized by the steps of, placingafree leading end o1' sliver from a reserve supply in a rst position foraccess of the tail end of a sliver feeding from a y depleted supply,loosely retaining said reserve the machine.

KENNETH GERALD S'I'REW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,556,018 Naumburg Oct. 6, 19251,626,954 Naumburg May 3, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date597,388 Germany May 25, 1934

